That's just blatant discrimination, I'm so sad to hear you experienced this. Well done for standing your ground. They had no right to ask you to leave. Although I would personally never go back there because an establishment with those values doesn't deserve your money, it deserves boycotting.

I take saw palmetto. My only complaint with it is that it wasn't strong enough for me so I've ended up back on birth control anyway (but my cystic acne was quite bad so doesn't mean it wouldn't be strong enough for other people). As far as I'm aware it has no effect on estrogen, it just blocks DHT. I did a lot of research on side effects etc. before taking it. Some people get mild stomach upset if they don't take it with food and there was a worry in the case of one individual who had surgery whilst taking it that it might have played a role in his excessive bleeding but I personally think it's an unlikely correlation. There's certainly no evidence of it causing blood clots as that would require thickening of the blood when the only suspicion is that it might thin it slightly. Other than that there are practically no side effects reported and I've personally experienced none. I read about people saying it prompted breast enlargement as well but I think this is probably wishful thinking. I've noticed no such effect myself and the supposed mechanism of action shouldn't cause that in any way so it makes no sense. If you can't tolerate saw palmetto, another one I've tried is stinging nettle root extract (the root not the leaf). Apart from tasting pretty disgusting I've had no problems with that either, but again for me personally it wasn't strong enough. Hope that helps!

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that! I have heard stories (on these boards) about Spiro causing hairloss. I had really bad hairloss from coming off Dianette but that was 3 months later because a hair's life cycle is about 3 months so it takes that long to respond to whatever's causing it. Not sure if maybe lashes and eyebrows have a shorter life cycle and that's why they've been hit first? I think you're wise to come off the drug if it's causing problems and I really hope it resolves itself for you soon! Also hope the hormone tests bring some clarification. Sorry this is happening to you. Sending hugs xxx

Sorry to hear you've been going through the same. I think people without acne can't possibly understand how much it affects you mentally and impacts on every area of your life. I know I shouldn't let it, but I can't help it, it just upsets me so much and I feel like such an inferior, sub-human, disgusting monster. When my skin's good I can fight the mental health problems and lead a vaguely normal life but when the skin's bad my mental health goes completely to pot and I just get paralysed. That's why I need it to get better so badly! I wish I could be one of these people who remains confident and active even with acne, but I just can't.
Yeh, my first one! Wasn't much fun and they've never been regular since except when I'm on the pill. They've never shown any interest in investigating the cause, just shove me back on the pill again, but I'm convinced that and the acne are linked and that my hormones are seriously messed up in their natural state which is worrying for lots of reasons. I think it's wise to give the Spiro a chance to work on its own and it sounds like it's starting to which is great and makes me want to try it even more! Trouble is my appointment is so far away and even when I get the appointment I highly doubt I can convince any NHS dermatologist to prescribe off-label like that.
That's really interesting.... I'm 24 and a couple of years ago I grew a couple of inches as well! That was when my doctor ordered the hormone panel because she said I shouldn't be growing at that age so she wanted to check there was nothing sinister going on but everything came back "normal" (or within what they call normal and don't do anything about anyway....) It sucks still dealing with this in your 20s doesn't it? It feels so unfair when everyone else grew out of it in their teens and now has beautiful skin. *sigh*

Pretty hopeless to be honest.... my dermatology appointment isn't until 20th January and I feel like I'm doing everything I possibly can in the meantime but to no avail, because I'm still breaking out and getting cysts. *sigh* Can't even leave the house at the moment so my life is just on hold and it feels terrible. I had clear skin 8 months ago but I ruined it by coming off the pill and now I can't get it back.
Sorry to hear the doctors aren't taking your thyroid problem seriously, but that sounds exactly like the kind of reaction I've had from doctors as well. They just don't want to know. I hope the holistic doctor takes the time to help where the others haven't, but you could always try going to a different regular doctor as well because you clearly have persistent symptoms that need addressing. There are some good doctors out there who will listen (or so I've heard!)
When I first started my periods I was on constantly for about 6 months and had to go on a pill just to stop it so my cycle has never been normal and I got none at all off the pill which was quite worrying along with the hairloss but when I told the doctor they just shrugged it off and said I could go back on the pill if I wanted, which I did in the end because of my skin. Hasn't helped with the skin yet but at least the hairloss seems to have slowed down a bit. Just wish the skin would follow! I didn't know it was the progesterone that helped skin, I thought it was the estrogen (and in the case of my pill the antiandrogen). There are some foods and supplements that are supposed to raise progesterone but I'd understand you not wanting to try that if you've had bad experiences. It's hard to know what to do to balance out your hormones when you're not really sure where the problem lies. Have you considered going back on the pill or are you trying to stay off it? Think it probably does more harm than good in the long run but I just can't seem to cope without it.
I can sympathise with that, I have quite a love/hate relationship with makeup as well. Can't leave the house without it but almost every one seems to make me break out. My old reliables are Garnier Oil Free BB Cream (though sadly that's not enough coverage for me anymore) and Maybelline Pure Liquid Mineral Foundation which is really hard to get since they discontinued it but the Affinitone one is the same ingredients. How long have you been taking Spiro now? Sorry you're having to deal with an initial breakout, they're horrible. Hope you get through it soon and come out the other side with beautiful clear skin!

Hi, thank you so much for replying! I had a hormone panel done a few years ago when they suspected a thyroid issue and they all came back within normal (even though every sign in my body says that I have too much androgen or at least am hyper-sensitive to androgens) I'm actually wondering if I might have underlying PCOS because as well as the severe hormonal acne I also have a completely wacky cycle and always have (though it's been masked with the pill for a long time it dates all the way back to when I was 13). When I was off the pill for 4 months I didn't have a single period and my hair started falling out! But the doctors don't seem much interested in investigating it, they just give me the brush off.
Yeh I have been taking Saw Palmetto (had it pegged as a natural alternative to the pill before things got completely out of hand) and I thought I'd come off it once I was back on the pill but every time I try to reduce my dose I break out in more cysts! It seems to help a bit with the cystic side of things but not much with the normal smaller stuff. Basically I don't really want to be on it anymore but I'm too scared to try coming off it at the moment unless I can replace it with Spiro. I've been using Cetaphil for years and years because my doctor recommended it. I have been clear whilst using it before so I don't think it can be causing any issues.
It's me myself that has a bad mental health history (total breakdown with multiple suicide attempts a few years ago) but that came after them consistently refusing to prescribe Accutane because I was on antidepressants so I felt like I had no way of helping my skin and no way of not feeling depressed whilst my skin was so awful so I felt totally trapped in a vicious cycle. I agree with you that it's a false correlation anyway. I think people with the severity of acne to warrant Accutane are most likely depressed before they start the course and perhaps the initial breakout (which is something that really scares me about Accutane!) exacerbates it in some people. But basically I think with my history they don't want to be held responsible if I do anything, even though I'm much more likely to if I don't find a solution for my skin! Sorry for the long ramble, but I really appreciate your input. Have you been on either Spiro or Accutane yourself? What were your experiences?

Hi all. So here I am, still fighting my acne.... I recently got a second referral to a dermatologist in the space of three years having had all hell break loose on my face with cystic acne after making the silly decision to come off my Dianette pill (which I'm now back on again but my acne has only continued to get worse so far). Last time I went to the dermatologist three years ago they refused to prescribe me isotretinoin even though my skin clearly needed it because of my history of mental health problems including depression. I'm scared that they're going to say the same thing again this time around and the irony is that last time their refusal to prescribe me anything to help with my awful skin sent me completely suicidal so I decided I need to go in with a back-up plan this time. The Dianette cleared me up really well in the end, but only after like two years, and I can't cope with my skin being this bad for that long again, it's completely ruining my life (as in I'm not even leaving the house again and my career is in tatters...)
So I've been looking into Spironolactone and seen that it has really good reviews with a lot of women with my kind of profile on here (ie. women in their 20s with hormonal cystic acne). I've also found some clinical trials (both from the US and one from an NHS Trust in Lancashire) that again show really positive results and I plan to take to the appointment with me. The issue is that although I know it's quite regularly prescribed in the US I've yet to find anyone who's managed to get it prescribed to them by the NHS in the UK outside of this one trial. I know that as it's off-label it would have to be prescribed by a consultant dermatologist, but I was just wondering if anyone has had any success in getting an NHS dermatologist to prescribe them Spironolactone? I'm really keen to try it, especially as a ) my acne is clearly hormonal and b ) they seem so reluctant to let me take isotretinoin. Anybody able to give me some hope that this could be achieved? I have until 20th January to formulate a game plan! Thanks in advance.

I was taking ibuprofen tablets as well for about a week and it seemed to help but I realise that's not a long term fix. The ibuprofen gel a few times a day did seem to calm the cyst down a little, but not remarkably.

I know full well that I shouldn't, but I've let acne completely take over and limit my life since I was 13 years old. I miss out on so much that I want to do because of my skin. Often I can't even make myself leave the house and I'm very socially isolated and depressed and can't help but think of all the things I would do if I had beautiful normal clear skin like everyone around me seems to have.
So what would you do if one day you woke up with perfect clear skin and never got acne again? I'll start with my top things:
Go out without makeup on!
Go swimming in the sea and at local pools
Walk around outside in the rain with no umbrella to feel the rain on my face
Go on holidays
Leave the house early and get back late
Spend entire days at the stables
Stay over at friends' houses
Go backpacking
Go camping
Do more sport
Go to every social event I'm invited to
Eat chocolate and pizza and cheese

Thank you so much for your comment! I'm breaking out at the moment and kind of despairing so this gives me a little ray of hope. I'm now on 640mg of Saw Palmetto a day and 300mg of Stinging Nettle Root and I'm about to try upping the nettle to 600mg as well. I've heard of pygeum but not tried it. How much of that did you take? I really hope my skin starts responding to this soon as I'm getting so so depressed. Starting to wish I'd never come off birth control because my hair is falling out too, as if the skin wasn't bad enough on its own.

Ah ok, I'm taking quite a bit less than you. Took 320mg for the first week, then upped to 640mg in the second week and still on that in the third week. Maybe I need to increase again, although I've added stinging nettle which is supposed to do a similar thing as well. Thanks, glad you've seen improvements

Still getting cysts pop up despite my new regime which is ridiculously depressing and making me really struggle. Managed to find some topical ibuprofen gel (I had been taking oral ibuprofen to reduce inflammation but obviously that's not a long-term solution). Anybody tried this and did it help? I'm trying just dabbing a small blob on my two current cysts to see if it will reduce them.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I've decided after doing some research and trying stopping the saw palmetto that it's coming off the pill that has caused my hair loss. It didn't really start happening until I'd been off it for 3 months but it's been going really strong for 3 weeks now. Desperately hoping it will stop soon. I've been using a caffeine shampoo for thinning hair which it seems to quite like but hasn't stopped it falling out like I'd hoped.
How has your experience with saw palmetto been from a skin perspective? Has it improved things for you and how long did it take if it did?

So.... Here I am again! Had a nice couple of years off this site because my birth control Dianette kept me pretty much clear. But having been on it 3 years and being worried about the health risks, I made the decision to come off it about 3 months ago. Since then, all hell has broken loose on my skin! I have cysts on my forehead and along my jawline and even my hair has started falling out....
Part of my just wants to screw the risk of the pill and go back on it, but part of me sees that if this is what happens when I come off it (especially the hair shedding) then it's clearly been messing with my body big time.
So, having been investigating hormones and reading Green Gables's fabulous long post on the topic, I have decided to try the natural route. I figure that my skin responded really well to the anti androgen cyproterone acetate in my pill, so maybe if I can simulate that effect naturally then my skin will respond well to that too. With that in mind, I started taking Saw Palmetto 160mg capsules morning and night 4 days ago. I've also ordered Stinging Nettle Root extract and intend to add that to my regimen when it arrives in the post. Meanwhile I will be keeping up my topical use of Epiduo and Zineryt as these have always served me well and I see no reason to stop them given the lack of side effects or health concerns. Day 5
I think I've already seen some tentative progress with the Saw Palmetto (although the timing might just be coincidence of course). I haven't (yet) had any new cysts form since taking this supplement. I have however continued to break out with smaller spots. My hair is still falling out in abundance but I don't think it's quite as bad as it was a week ago. So I am cautiously hopeful but don't want to count my chickens too soon....

I'm not sure how or why, but I know Sertraline/Zoloft (another SSRI) seriously contributed to a horrific cystic acne breakout for me a few years ago, so I can quite believe that Fluoxetine/Prozac might do the same. I don't understand why and I don't think the doctors do either because they said they'd never seen it before, but my skin improved loads when I switched to Venlafaxine/Effexor (an SNRI) so in the end they agreed that it had to be the Sertraline.

Sorry to be a pain, but could someone who can access the post maybe copy and paste it to me here or in a message just as a short term solution? Would really like to read it to see what supplements are suggested for hormonal acne since I'm breaking out horribly after having to come off the pill. Thanks!

Hey, thanks for the detailed reply! I tried logging out and back in again and it didn't work for me but I posted about it in the feedback section and the mods are onto it now. Thanks for copying the list over for me though, that's really helpful.
That's what I found when googling it.... lots and lots on saw palmetto but nothing much on any of the others and nobody else saying they'd used a combination of different ones. Sorry to hear the herbs aren't keeping you clear anymore, that's a little discouraging. What birth control have you gone on? Dianette was really good for me but I came off it because the blood clot risk scared me. But if I can't clear up these cysts with herbs then going back on it is looking like my only option, it's the only thing that's ever cleared me up in 11 long years. Will certainly keep you updated, I think it is helping so far but not as much as I'd like but I've only been on it 3 days so far too early to judge yet.

Hi, I seem to be having problems accessing a thread in the hormonal acne forum that was really really useful. It was called The Big Hormone Post for Both Men and Women started by a user called Green Gables. It comes up in searches but every time I click on it to read it I get this error message:
Sorry, there is a problem
The page you requested does not exist
I was wondering if you know why this might be, whether it's a problem my end or a problem on the forum, and if there's any way of reinstating it as the information in it was so useful? Alternatively if it's working for everyone else could somebody maybe copy and paste it to me in a reply? Thanks

Hi there, I've not really heard of using stinging nettle until reading your posts and now I'm very intrigued! I was wondering if you know anything about the mechanism by which it works or about whether root or leaf extract is better? I've just started taking 320mg a day of saw palmetto in divided doses. My skin is going cystic again after coming off my birth control 3 months ago which had done a wonderful job of getting me clear (and I am now starting to severely regret coming off but I was worried about the health risks). Really hoping saw palmetto will help but wondering about adding stinging nettle to it like you did.
On another note, the Big Hormone Post seems to have disappeared! I remember reading it a while ago and thinking how useful it was but I can't seem to access it anymore, it keeps coming up with an error message, not sure if it's just me? Anyway, I wanted to know what other natural anti-androgens were recommended to combine with saw palmetto as I know it suggested two different herbs were more effective than one but I can't remember what the other suggestions were, or the types or doses or anything. Do you have any idea what's happened to it or remember what other alternatives were listed?
Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance Really pleased you've managed to get clear the natural way as it gives me hope!

Yeh, I always give things 3 months before deciding if they're working or not, which is why I was really surprised this seemed to work so quickly but maybe it was a fluke! Just have to wait and see I guess. Let me know how you get on too.